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We're being resold down the river: artists

AUSTRALIAN artists have waited years for a resale royalty
scheme, but many were left disappointed by the model unveiled by
the Federal Government yesterday.

Under the scheme, to take effect by July 1, artists will get a 5
per cent cut of the sale price whenever their work is sold on the
secondary market for $1000 or more.

The scheme will cover works resold during an artist's lifetime
and for 70 years after their death. But many artists will wait
decades before they see any money because the royalty will apply
only to the second sale of the work after July 1. This clause is to
protect anyone who bought work before the legislation was
introduced.

Most people who buy art on the secondary market keep it for
years before selling it.

Painter Mandy Martin hoped to used her royalties to pay bills
and buy materials.

"It might help pay my nursing home fees, but I don't think any
money will flow to me for at least another 20 years," she said.
"Only artists who are doing phenomenally well have their work sold
frequently at auction and by secondary dealers."

The Minister for the Arts, Peter Garrett, was confident the
scheme would generate payments for struggling artists as well as
the big names.

"We've set the threshold to apply to works resold for $1000 or
more. There are a number of emerging artists whose work sells for
around that figure, and it's not uncommon for those artists to see
their work increase in value over a period of time," he said.

Arts bodies campaigning for the royalty believe the legislation
will be ineffectual unless it covers all resales.

They fear dealers and auction houses may exploit the model to
avoid making payments.

"It is going to be very difficult to track and verify whether
the work has been resold before or not," said Michael Keighery, the
chairman of Viscopy, a copyright agency in Sydney, which hopes to
administer the scheme.

"Some people could use that as a loophole. They could avoid
making the payments by claiming the work has not been resold since
the legislation was introduced."

Tamara Winikoff, the executive director of the National
Association for the Visual Arts, believes the scheme is
incompatible with those operating internationally, which may
prevent countries such as Britain and New Zealand from passing on
royalties to Australian artists who sell their work overseas.

"Unless the Australian model delivers the same benefits as
royalty schemes overseas, there is no incentive for those countries
to offer us a reciprocal arrangement," she said.

"But we're optimistic that we can negotiate with the government
to change the model into a robust and effective scheme."